Saturday, November 12, 2011

INTIMATIONS OF THE NEXT WORLD
20.

"Everybody knows that our cities
were built to be destroyed."
Caetano Veloso, "Maria Bethania"

San Francisco and
Lisbon--destroyed by earthquakes;
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki--blown up by
Fat Man and Little Boy bombs;

Fukushima upped
the stakes: earthquakes, tsunamis,
leaking reactors;
and for a few more encores
Los Angeles is always

poised for a shakedown.
Let me guess your preference:
fire, ice, nuclear
winter--all so compelling
that it's difficult to choose,

but someone will choose
for you if you hesitate--
so not to worry.
Israel threatens to bomb
nuclear facilities

in Iran and strike
up global conflagration--
sweet distraction from
economic collapse, one-
upping masturbating to

the firebombing of
Dresden, and with so much flair.
Tell me the goose of
"western civilization"
is not cooked, and I'll sell you

my last oceanfront
lot in Rapid City, South
Dakota--complete
with pristine sand and a drop-
dead view of Mount Rushmore.

Not too far away,
winter is coming again
to Wounded Knee Creek,
every snowflake an ash
from a smoldering city.